Press for a deformable bag

ABSTRACT

A press for a deformable bag, particularly a blood bag, has two flaps articulating on a common hinge and urged together by pressure means to clamp a bag placed between them. Associated with the pressure means are control means adapted to make a determined pressure threshold perceptible to an operator.

United States Patent 1191 Gaudin 1 May 22, 1973 [54] PRESS FOR ADEFORMABLE BAG [56] References Cited [75] Inventor: Jean Joseph Gaudin,Bordeaux-Cau- UNITED STATES PATENTS (Glmnde), France 1,320,275 10/1919R0361] ..222 103 3,565,292 2/1971 VinOtti.... ...222/103 [73] Assgnee'LABAZ Pans France 2,766,907 10/1956 Wallace ..222/94 [22] Filed: July26, 1971 3,211,341 10 1965 Bailey ..222 103 [21] Appl' 1661l2 PrimaryExaminer-Robert B. Reeves Assistant Examiner-Larry Martin 30 ForeignAppncation priority Data Attorney-Irving S. Thompson and Robert J. PatchAug. 3, 1970 France ..7028554 57 ABSTRACT 52 us. c1 ..222/103, 128/214 APress for a deformable Particularly 3 N00! bag, [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d35/28 has two flaps articulating on a common hinge and 58 Field ofSearch ..222/93, 95, 96, 103; urged wgeth" by PMre "mans clamp a bag128/214, DIG. 12; 100/268 placed between them. Associated with thepressure means are control means adapted to make a determined pressurethreshold perceptible to an operator.

4 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures Patented May 22, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 1Patented May 22, 1973 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 PRESS FOR A DEFORMABLE BAGBACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION l. Field of the Invention The presentinvention relates to a press employed for the utilization of thecontents of a deformable bag, particularly for the utilization of thecontents of a blood bag, that is to say a bag containing bloodpreviously taken from a donor.

It relates more particularly to a press adapted to apply a certainpressure to a deformable bag of this kind.

As is known, the blood contained in a blood bag may be used eithercompletely for a blood transfusion or partially after separation byextraction of at least some of its constituents.

In emergency and revival services it is frequently necessary toaccelerate a blood transfusion which is being made.

2. Prior Art At the present time it is customary for this purpose todeliver air under pressure into the blood bag in order to drive out morequickly towards the recipient the blood contained therein.

This penetration of air under pressure into a blood bag entails the riskof bubbles being carried along by the blood which could cause bubbles ofair capable of giving rise to air embolism in the recipient in addition,this air under pressure also entails the risk of causing hemolysis ofthe blood with which it is in contact, as well as polluting it.

It has also been proposed to accelerate a blood transfusion by applyingan external pressure to the blood bags used for the transfusion.

In order to do this devices have already been proposed which consistessentially of a sleeve or a casing in which the blood bag is placed andto which an internal pressure, which acts externally on the blood bag,is applied by inflation. In this case however it is not possible for theoperator to control the pressure thus applied to the blood bag, and thismay be dangerous to the recipient or in any case may give rise to thesudden bursting of the blood bag if the mechanical characteristics ofthe latter should be exceeded.

In addition, for the purpose of partial extraction of at least some ofthe constituents of the contents it is known to place a blood bag in apress, known as an extraction press and formed of two flaps articulatingon a common hinge, said flaps being subjected to pressure means enablingthem to clamp between them the bag so placed.

Here again, these means of applying pressure are however generallyuncontrolled, while in addition an extraction press of this kind is notsuitable for use for effecting an accelerated blood transfusion.

The object of the present invention is to provide a press for adeformable bag, particularly for a blood bag, which is free from theabovementioned disadvantages and in particular is capable of being usedboth for an accelerated blood transfusion and for extraction byseparation of the constituents of the contents of said bag.

SUMMARY According to the invention a press for a deformable bag,particularly for a blood bag, comprises two flaps articulating on acommon hinge and pressure means adapted to urge said flaps towards oneanother in order to clamp a bag placed between them, said pressure meansbeing associated with control means adapted to make a determinedpressure threshold perceptible to an operator.

According to one particular embodiment this control is obtained from anabrupt increase of the friction forces to be overcome in order tooperate the pressure means.

In another embodiment, this control is obtained from the reading of apressure gauge connected to an aneroid capsule associated with one ofthe flaps of the press.

In all cases the operator using this press is warned when the pressureapplied by him reaches a determined threshold.

Furthermore, as was mentioned above, the press according to theinvention is capable of being used as an extraction press. For thispurpose one of its flaps is extended beyond the hinge by which the otherflap is articulated to it, in such a manner as to form a plate adaptedto be inserted into a slot provided for the purpose in a support baseassociated with said press.

Because of these two possible uses a press according to the invention,the cost price of which moreover is modest while its operation is easyand reliable, offers the advantage of enabling the overall amount ofequipment required by a transfusion center to be reduced.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an exploded view inperspective, by way of example, of a press according to the inventionFIG. 2 is a view in elevation of this press when used for an acceleratedblood transfusion FIG. 3 is a diagrammatical view in elevation of thepress when used for a partial extraction of the contents of a blood bagFIG. 4 is a partial view illustrating a modified construction of thepress according to the invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS According to the embodimentillustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2, a press according to the inventioncomprises two flaps 10, 11 articulating on a common hinge 12.

The flap 10 is preferably of metal and preferably has a gutter-shapedprofile.

The fiap 11 is preferably transparent it is for example a sheet ofsynthetic material sold under the commercial name Plexiglas. Near one ofits transverse edges this flap 11 is provided with a simple slot 13 bywhich it is engaged on the hinge 12. If desired the flap 10 may beformed of a transparent synthetic material.

This hinge 12 is a simple metal plate fixed by screws 14 to the flap 10and has a free edgelS rolled into the shape of a crook, on which theflap 11 is engaged by its slot 13.

The flap 10 forms so-to-speak the base flap of the press and is extendedbeyond the hinge 12 by a plate 16, the purpose of which will bedescribed below. This plate 16 is pierced by a hole 17.

The flap 10 also carries a stud 18 the purpose of which will bedescribed below, and in a corresponding position the flap 11 is providedwith an aperture 19 by which it can be engaged on said stud 18.

On the flap 10 there is secured a strap 20, which in the embodimentillustrated is in the form of a stirrup. The side branches 21 of saidstirrup are articulated by screws 22 on the side edges of the flap itscentral bar 23 has an aperture 24 engaging a tapped bush 25 formed by amale element 26 and a female element 27, the two elements being clampedon said central bar 23.

A threaded rod 28, hereinafter referred to as the clamp screw, isengaged by its screwthread in the tapped bush 25 and can be turned bymeans of a knob 29.

At its free end said clamp screw 28 is hollowed axially to form a blindrecess 30 and widens externally to form a radial collar 31.

In the blind recess 30 in the clamp screw 28 there is disposed acalibrated spring 32 bearing against the bottom of said blind recess atits other end said spring is engaged on a centering stud 34 mounted on asupport plate 35, which it thus presses against the flap 11; in contactwith said flap 11 the support plate 35 carries axially a centering boss36 engaged in a complementary depression 37 provided for the purpose inthe surface of the flap 11 the relative roles of said boss anddepression could obviously be reversed.

Engagement means are in addition provided between the clamp screw 28 andthe support plate 35 in order to make said clamp screw and said plateintegral in rotation beyond a predetermined axial movement of said clampscrew.

In the example illustrated these engagement means comprise a bent finger40 carried radially by the collar 31 of the clamp screw 28 and a pin 41carried radially by the support plate 35.

As an alternative these engagement means could comprise projections ordepressions formed on the clamp screw 28, or more precisely on thecollar 31 of the latter, to cooperate with complementary depressions orprojections provided on the support plate 35.

During an accelerated blood transfusion the press according to theinvention is put into action by laying flat the flap 10 of the latter(FIG. 2), then placing a blood bag 50 in position on said flap 10 thesuspension hole 51 usually provided in a bag of this kind is engagedover the stud 18 formed on the flap 10 of the press.

The flap 11 is then folded down on to the blood bag 50, the stirrup 20is engaged over said flap 11, the support plate 35 being brought intocontact with said flap 11 and centered on the latter by means of itsboss 36 and of the depression 37 in said flap.

By rotation the operator then effects an axial movement of the clampscrew 28 in the direction of the flap 11.

This axial movement causes progressive compression of the spring 32,thus applying pressure to the blood bag 50.

In the course of the axial displacement of the clamp screw 28, thelatter first turns alone.

When the collar 31 of the clamp screw 28 comes into contact with thesupport plate 35, the bent finger 40 carried by the former comes to bearagainst the pin 41 carried by the support plate 35, said pin 41 beingpositioned on the circular path followed by the said bent finger 40.

Consequently, the support plate 35 is then driven by the clamp screw 28which, because of the resistance produced by the friction between thesupport plate 35 and the flap 11, has the effect of causing the operatorto increase abruptly the effort required to continue turning the clampscrew 28.

The operator is thus warned that he has reached a certain pressurethreshold, determined by the compression of the calibrated spring 32when the collar 31 of the rod 28 is in contact with the support plate 35the spring 32 is therefore selected in accordance with the pressurethreshold to be respected.

When the press according to the invention is used as an extraction press(see FIG. 3), the plate 16 formed by the flap 10 is engaged verticallyin a slot 52 formed for the purpose in a base 53. The press is thenfastened in said base by a screw 54 which passes through the hole 17 inthe plate 16 formed by the flap 10.

In accordance with the modified embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, thecontrol means associated with the clamp screw 28 comprise an aneroidcapsule 60 carried on its inner face by the flap 1 1. This aneroidcapsule 60 is connected to a pressure gauge 61 carried by the flap 11 onits outer face and visible to the operator.

What I claim is:

1. A press for a deformable blood bag comprising two flaps, a commonhinge pivotally connecting said flaps to one another, a strap fastenedto one of said flaps remote from said hinge, a tapped bush fixed to saidstrap, a manually rotatable threaded clamp screw engaged by a screwthread in said bush and extending in the direction of the other flap,

a support plate which is in frictional contact with said other flap, anda calibrated spring disposed between and acting between said clamp screwand said support plate, the support plate being provided with engagingmeans adapted to connect said plate for rotation with the threaded clampscrew after a predetermined axial movement of the said threaded clampscrew.

2. A press according to claim I, wherein the threaded clamp screw hashollowed in it a blind axial recess against which the calibrated springbears and which terminates in a radial collar adapted to come intocontact with the support plate when said spring is compressed.

3. A press according to claim 1, wherein said engaging means adapted toconnect the support plate on the threaded clamp screw comprise a bentfinger carried radially by said screw and a pin carried radially by saidplate, said pin being positioned in the circular path followed by saidbent finger.

4. A press according to claim 1, wherein centering means are providedbetween the support plate and said other flap, and wherein said meansare formed as a boss carried by one of said parts and a recesscomplementary to said boss provided in the other part, in the axis ofsaid plate.

1. A press for a deformable blood bag comprising two flaps, a commonhinge pivotally connecting said flaps to one another, a strap fastenedto one of said flaps remote from said hinge, a tapped bush fixed to saidstrap, a manually rotatable threaded clamp screw engaged by a screwthread in said bush and extending in the direction of the other flap, asupport plate which is in frictional contact with said other flap, and acalibrated spring disposed between and acting between said clamp screwand said support plate, the support plate being provided with engagingmeans adapted to connect said plate for rotation with the threaded clampscrew after a predetermined axial movement of the said thReaded clampscrew.
 2. A press according to claim 1, wherein the threaded clamp screwhas hollowed in it a blind axial recess against which the calibratedspring bears and which terminates in a radial collar adapted to comeinto contact with the support plate when said spring is compressed.
 3. Apress according to claim 1, wherein said engaging means adapted toconnect the support plate on the threaded clamp screw comprise a bentfinger carried radially by said screw and a pin carried radially by saidplate, said pin being positioned in the circular path followed by saidbent finger.
 4. A press according to claim 1, wherein centering meansare provided between the support plate and said other flap, and whereinsaid means are formed as a boss carried by one of said parts and arecess complementary to said boss provided in the other part, in theaxis of said plate.